Strength of your Conviction
by dusty the bunny
Summary: It starts off with Mammon trying to convince the rest of the Varia to participate in the recent Battle of the representatives...Rating because of upcoming chapters.


Strength of your Conviction

"…and that's why I believe it would be beneficial for all of the Varia if my curse of the Rainbow was undone. So will you join me?" Mammon was levitating above his spot at the dinner table. Despite his best efforts to convince the others to help him, it seemed that the admittedly humiliating pleas were all but in vain.

"Voooiii! Listen to Mammon you brats!" Squalo banged on the exquisite table, causing a small crack to appear where his fist made contact. All but two were still busy shoving lavish foodstuffs in their mouths so he smashed again, oblivious to the damage already done, and broke clean through. A heavy silence ensued for a fleeting moment. No tranquility could ever result from the collection of these characters in one room, and a half filled wine cup was thrown at him.

"You trash! Now we need a new table!" Xanxus roared the obvious with less than necessary melodramatics, causing everyone to flinch.

"Ah, it's okay boss, it'll be mended…now." Mammon diffused his temper by fixing the hole with his illusions. To his amusement, all eyes were on him now. "So once again, I implore you, will you all support me?"

A series of grumbles followed, mostly tolerating his proposition. There was nothing much to do now anyways; they were entering a stale stage in their careers. It was one of those weeks where most of their enemies had been eliminated, and the ones that weren't could be handled by an underling.

"Yeah, we'll help you." Bel could be seen smirking under his pale bangs. "When you return to your natural form, we can all make bets on whether you're a girl or boy! Even you can bid ya know?" His comment was followed by a string of muffled cackles. Even Squalo, who ended up defending him? Her? Uh, anyways…

"Don't worry, we'll back you up. We all need favours, some more than others, and he'll be paying us to boot." He glared at some point in a distance, bow wrinkled. "Right guys!"

"I think they get the point now…you can stop." It was clear that Mammon was getting embarrassed from all the fuss being made over him, although his violet hood concealed any facial expressions that could possibly be created. "Boss, Katami, I can count on you guys right?"

"No. Deal with your own problems. Only the weak would rely on the strength of others." And at that, Xanxus returned to his room, leaving the chaos to thrive behind him. Sin waited for him to clear her vision before she started speaking.

"Sorry Mammon, but unlike some of the_ other_ slackers here," she made sure to glare at Bel in particular. He shrugged back leisurely, already accustomed to such hostility from the Varia. "I have personal projects to attend to. I'm sure the rest are enough back you up in whatever you may come across." She was the second to get up. Although before that, she actually bothered to wipe her mouth and tuck in a chair…make that two.

"Have fun cleaning up after us Bel…" Sin made sure to crash a flower vase before a wave goodbye to the others.

"What? I did that last time! Squalo, you do it!"

"Lazy punk, my rank is higher than yours! Respect your others hmm?" The ruckus was inevitable, and Mammon certainly didn't want to take part in it.

Mammon left to confront the girl; after all, the Battle of the Representatives would be taking place days later and he couldn't afford to lose any one of these precious assassins. They were each irreplaceable, some more than others, though it seemed most of this didn't know it. The arcebaleno hoped bargaining would go well.

_Knock Knock_. Small knuckles rapped against the fourth door to the left. After all, a taped paper on the door read: _Knock or ask before you enter, _and the last person to barge in caught her in the middle or changing. His eyes were gouged out and like the mythological Acteon, the waste of space was torn to pieces with no one's dismay.

"Come in Mammon." A voice answered casually.

The baby glided in, making sure to have closed the door right after. Her room was a nice break from the other abominations; it's minimalistic design was a relief from the clutters of miscellaneous items strewn wherever.

"You know what I'm here for." She was lying upside down on a chair with an untitled book slipped between slender fingers. How that was comfortable was a mystery, but so was most everything else in here.

"I believe I've given an answer, but I'm still willing to barter." She dropped the book and shifted to be upright in the chair. "If we did this trade at dinner, the others would have demand favours too, though I'm sure you would have already guessed."

"Fine, what is it? Information? A coup? Public humiliation? Money?" Mammon shifted uncomfortably. _Please don't pick money. _But it was obvious none of the above would satisfy her. Sin grinned mischievously as the baby hoped his sanity would still be intact by the end of all this.

"Tempting, but no. What I request is quite simple." Mammon wished she just picked the damn money (after all, he would). Nothing was ever simple with her…

"I just want a favour." _What?_ "Redeemable at anytime, anywhere, and for whatever bullshit reason. It's probably a good deal and you might even be dead before I need assistance." She titled her head, waiting. The girl knew this was too good to be true, for him anyways. Fighting was but a general nuisance to her.

"Deal!" was exclaimed jubilantly. This was going better than expected for sure. "So you'll be battling with us then?"

"I'll do my best, but probably not. Unless it's against one of the Arcebaleno, this should be a walk in the park." If there was one thing she could count on, that was her skill. And ability to flee safety from battle. The cloud guardian could be unreliable at times.

"Well if there's nothing else, I'll get back to Voltaire now." Her face was again shrouded by bound paper.

"About that, actually I was wondering if you could use your _excellent_ persuasion skills to convince boss to join in; there isnr't going to be any leadership without him. I know you're capable for this feat more than anyone else here." She looked up again with a sneer.

"Flattery gets you nowhere my friend. But I have _another_ proposition for you dear fellow!" She clasped her hands together in mock sincerity and placed an arm on the shoulder. With a brush against air, the other was painting an imaginary future.

"For the low, low price of annoying Bel, you will gain the almighty Xanxus as an ally for the upcoming battles of the Representatives! All that needs to be done is to convince him to wear an approved dress and refer to him as a Princess for a week! Mind you, this once in a lifetime deal is 75% off already, and is only available for the next 10…9…8…7…"

"Okay, okay! I'll do it tomorrow!" Mammon wasn't sure how to pull this off with dignity intact, and died a little inside. The baby might actually need to cough up some cash for this, but it would be worth it if this ally would be gained.

"You can leave my room now." Sin's demeanor darkener somewhat, no longer the charismatic salesperson but her usual apathetic self. Returning the book to the shelf across the room, she breezed out of sight. "Make sure to close the door behind you..."

"Yes of course, thank you Sin. May negotiations with the boss go well." The latter clause was sincere, but the door was secured anyways.


End file.
